THE FIRST DAY
My first day back at my internship was Tuesday, January 7, where things were finally starting to get back to normal in the classroom. Miss James discussed with me that this was a welcome change from Monday, the students’ actual first day back, where they followed a completely new schedule from their normal days. She said that on the first day, the students took the whole day making sure they knew their schedule and reviewing. This was something I was not expecting, but after seeing the kids on Tuesday, realized was absolutely vital for the classroom. My host teacher explained that on the first day back, students first spent a lot of time discussing their break. They had a chance to write about what they did over break on several occasions, as well as doing a share circle where the kids could share out their highlights if they were given “Sammy the Hamster.” Then, she said that during the time where I normally would be in the classroom, so during reading and Daily 5 time, the kids reviewed a lot of expectations. They went over all of their rules they used during the first semester and also went over different classroom management strategies such as ClassDojo and something they use called the Scoreboard. They also reviewed expectations for places other than the classroom such as the cafeteria and recess time expectations. I did not expect them to take a whole day for review and to talk about break, but I think it was important that they did because a lot of the younger kids need this reminder after being home for two weeks. As I get into teaching, I am not sure if I will be in a classroom with kids this young, but I definitely want to make sure I review expectations after break just to give a fresh reminder and to make any changes that could be necessary after such a long break.
MY FIRST DAY BACK
So my first day back was a bit more hectic than I think Monday was because my host teacher was gone and so the kids and I had a sub. I know they had the whole day of review of expectations but they were still extremely restless from break and it was almost like they were experiencing a sub in the classroom for the first time that whole year. The plan during my time there was to go back to starting the Daily 5 reading activities once again. Normally during this time the room is completely silent and the kids stay relatively focused, but they definitely had a harder time with this today. Also the substitute did not have access to any classroom management techniques that are most influential to the kids such as ClassDojo, as it couldn’t be shared, and was unfamiliar with the Scoreboard technique, so the kids were having trouble managing their inability to focus. I tried my best to go around and help kids who were struggling and read with some of the students who were getting especially distracted, but it was just a bit of a rough day because they still had a lot of energy from break and they weren’t with their normal instructor. It was helpful though that their assignments for the work period were not as intensive as normal, and they did not do any meet with the teacher, where they are most challenged. They were able to get the chance to practice voice levels, go through and get the books they wanted to read and remember their choices for the iPad. I would guess it is normally not this rough, but I liked the idea of them slowly getting back into the swing of their normal routine, but not being completely immersed in their normal work.
LATER IN THE WEEK
By the time that I came back on Thursday, there was very little of the same craziness that I had seen and heard about on Monday and Tuesday. The kids were very much back in their routine for their Daily 5 stations, and there were very few questions about what to do, and very few behavioral problems. The kids were able to get back into their groups that met with Miss James and start some new books based on their reading levels, and start working on actually improving their reading skills. I think it was nice that the first couple of days were set aside for the kids to not necessarily start learning new things, but familiarize themselves with things they’ve already learned, and reestablish their expectations during this time. Really, by Thursday, it was all back to normal and the kids were so much more focused. It is just those first couple of days. I definitely liked the idea of giving the kids a fresh start by starting new work geared towards a new year, and basically giving all of the kids a clean slate for the semester. I think it really helped the classroom environment and I definitely think taking that time with the kids, even for just part of a class, is really important. It is definitely something I want to model in my classroom, no matter what age group I end up teaching.
Teaching Portfolio 